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Dow Today: International Business Machines (IBM) Leads The Day Higher, Caterpillar (CAT) Lags

The Dow component that led the way higher today was International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM), which sported a $1.02 gain (+0.6%) bringing the stock to $184.15. Holding the Dow back today was Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), which lagged the broader Dow index with a 59-cent decline (-0.7%) bringing the stock to $82.95.

Editor's Note: Any reference to TheStreet Ratings and its underlying recommendation does not reflect the opinion of TheStreet, Inc. or any of its contributors including Jim Cramer or Stephanie Link.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ( ^DJI) closed up seven points at 14,937. During the day, 425 million shares of the 30 Dow components have changed hands vs. an average daily trading volume of 525.4 million. The NYSE advances/declines ratio closed at 1,424 issues advancing vs. 1,586 declining with 86 unchanged.

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The Dow component that led the way higher today was International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM), which sported a $1.02 gain (+0.6%) bringing the stock to $184.15. This single gain lifted the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 7.72 points or roughly accounting for 110.3% of the Dow's overall gain. Volume for International Business Machines ended the day at 2.7 million shares traded vs. an average daily trading volume of 3.8 million shares.

International Business Machines has a market cap of $201.51 billion and is part of the technology sector and computer software & services industry. Shares are down 4.4% year to date as of Wednesday's close. The stock's dividend yield sits at 2.1%.

International Business Machines Corporation provides information technology (IT) products and services worldwide. The company operates in five segments: Global Technology Services, Global Business Services, Software, Systems and Technology, and Global Financing.

TheStreet Ratings rates International Business Machines as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its notable return on equity and expanding profit margins. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income.

Holding the Dow back today was Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), which lagged the broader Dow index with a 59-cent decline (-0.7%) bringing the stock to $82.95. Volume for Caterpillar ended the day at 3.7 million shares traded vs. an average daily trading volume of six million shares.

Caterpillar has a market cap of $53.43 billion and is part of the industrial goods sector and industrial industry. Shares are down 7.9% year to date as of Wednesday's close. The stock's dividend yield sits at 2.9%.

TheStreet Ratings rates Caterpillar as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its good cash flow from operations and notable return on equity. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income.